WIll my pear shape ever change?

yirara

No idea if it will! I'm more of a pear with wide hourglass shoulders and I have strong legs (also kalves) wide hips but an ok belly. Since trying to loose a bit weight I noticed that there is some overall loss on the tape measure. The quickest results where on my waist, but this has slowed down considerably now and as my belly gets relatively flat relatively fast anyway I'm not surprised. Based on overall circumference I saw the largest relative and overall! changes on my lower legs and lower arms! And least change on my hips and thighs ( I guess chest has the smallest change, but I'm not measuring that) which isn't really too surprising, seeing my body shape. Plus I have rather wide hip bones anyway. On the positive side: my rather nice round butt (long live squats!) is probably not going away soon

Hmm.. looking at this mybodygallery (cool website) for my weight and height I think I have more of an athletic body anyway rather than a wobbly one. Interesting! O.o

Just played with a waste to hip ration calculator: 0.74 while I'm still somewhat overweight. Yep, I guess I'm a pear

BlueVelvet93

If you keep doing cardio, eating properly, and you keep losing fat, your thighs will eventually get smaller. But as for your pear shape ever changing - no.

Again, I'm not saying that your thighs can't get smaller, because they can. If you're already smaller on top and larger on the bottom, when you lose a lot of fat, you will be VERY small on the top, but still larger on the bottom, even though your thighs are smaller. I hope that makes sense. I'm speaking from experience. I once got really small (too small actually) but I was still pear shaped...just sort of a thin pear shape. :happy: I thought my thighs would never get small because they were always so huge. But they did get small!!! So it is possible! But pear shape changing? Again, no. Where we tend to retain fat is determined by our individual body chemistry and genetic make up. (And don't forget about bone structure, that also makes a huge difference in body shape. If you have wide hip bones, even being stick skinny you will still have wide hips.)

Just to summarize: you will lose weight all over your body, but you will retain the natural shape you were born with. So start to embrace it! (From your fellow pear shaped gal.)

This is my experience exactly. I am a weird kind of pair shape - petite, small on top, narrow hips, average bum but bigger thighs, and small calves - and even at a very low weight my proportions are pretty much the same. When my body fat is lower I basically lose the jiggle but find I have a lot of muscle underneath. The downside is I have to get pretty bony up top to slim down my thighs, but on the upside I tend to look smaller than I am in the right clothes and my legs taper nicely instead of being straight up and down.

ninerbuff

Your "shape" is genetic. Meaning you cannot change the width of your hip or shoulder bones which help to dictate your shape. You can lose body fat which will help you look leaner.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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feedmedonuts

I'm a pear and have those thick thighs you speak of. When I was 118lbs all the way up until 150lbs it was the same way, just less severe when I was smaller. Can't change my shape, but can make it better. Thankfully I don't have a thigh gap infatuation, because let's face it...ain't happening :bigsmile:

fushigi1988

His is a GREAT post about your question: http://fitvillains.tumblr.com/post/7934677568/why-losing-weight-wont-change-your-shape-and-other

Short answer: basic shape will stay the same, that's just your bones, but by lowering BF% and increasing muscle mass, you can change it a bit. Make your legs look tighter.

skinnyb05

I'm a pear too! I was just reading that you should be happy to have a pear shape rather than an apple due to an apple carrying most of their weight around their belly. That helped me to accept it more and work with what I have, you can't change the genetics part of it. Just as the other pears have mentioned I always lose from the top first. Don't listen to the unkind comments.

albayin

I don't know if this is for every pear out there...but for me, my shape has changed. I am still slightly peared but more balanced after 2 years of lifting and training...

skinnyb05

Staci from nerdfitness had a pear shape, and also hated her legs.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Awesome!! Thank you for posting this, she is an amazing inspiration!!

albayin

Staci from nerdfitness had a pear shape, and also hated her legs.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

LOL this Staci was "introduced" to me back to when I first joined the lifting group....Is she still around?

IllustratedxGirl

I'm very pear shared because the widest part of my hips, like the spot where my thigh bone connects to my hips, is very, very wide. So I'll never be smaller than that lol. It's ok though because as long as I can look leaner within that frame, then that works.

smoothoperatorz

Yes you can change your pear shape - here's a book on the subject (Bye Bye Thunder Thighs - the weight loss diet plan for pear shapes)

http://thighgaphack.com/bye-bye-thunder-thighs-diet-pear-shapes/

Basically, when you lose enough fat your proportions will even out, so although if you gain the weight back you will be predisposition for it to go straight to your hips and thighs, as long as it's off you will no longer possess that pear shape

Be forewarned, your top will probably get pretty bony though before the fat from your lower body melts away. Make sure you work out properly though, because a lot of pear shaped women tend to follow the advice of using weights, squats, etc. but since fat is the problem versus toning per se, won't be satisfied with the results.

you'll need to do lots of cardio - the book recommends getting a treadmill desk, get a lot of blood flow to the area (massages, stretching, etc), and stay away from foods that get stored as fat almost right away (sugar, high carbs, too much fat or any other nutrient in one sitting).

Finally, pear shapes tend to hold a lot of water in the hips and thighs too, so you might want to try body wraps for legs, saunas, elevating your legs every night, and cutting out sodium from the diet. Hope it helps

SLLRunner

I too have bigger legs and they have significantly gotten smaller with weightless and heavy weight lifting. I actually like how they look.

Beeps2011

I have morphed my natural pear shape into (MUCH closer to) an hourglass.

Lifting heavy free weights to change bodyshape.

And, calorie deficit to lose bodyfat.

Anniebotnen

The answer to your question: very likely yes. MENOPAUSE will probably redistribute your weight. The fat from your hips, butt and thighs will probably shift to your upper arms, breasts, waist, midriff, and belly. Most postmenopausal women turn into apples within a few years. Hourglasses and pears then will long for their pre-apple figures. You don't know what you've got till it's gone, gone, gone...

This is nonsense! I'm 68 years old, well past menopause, which happened due to surgery when I was 49 - 19 years ago.. My fat has not "redistributed" itself from my hips, butt and thighs to deposit itself on other parts of my body. The main change was that more of any weight gained seemed to land on my belly, rather than all over, like when I was younger. But I'm still an hourglass shape. Weight training works wonders to retain a youthful figure - whether it is a pear or an hourglass is determined by genetics.

EDited for clarification.

DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh

bump

DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh

Staci from nerdfitness had a pear shape, and also hated her legs.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

LOL this Staci was "introduced" to me back to when I first joined the lifting group....Is she still around?

She now works for Nerd Fitness.

walker306

First I want to say that I am sorry you received such a comment as the one you mention about your thighs. That just seems harsh to me. But I do want to tell you a bit of a funny story. As I was walking through a hallway at the nursing home my dad is at, one of the residents that I was walking by just yelled out "hey, look at those THUNDER THIGHS! Look at how fat she is!" She had a very loud voice and it caught even the nurses' attention. Then the nurses tried to make me feel a little better by saying that the resident says rude things all of the time.

Well, you know how they say "out of the mouth of babes, etc.." …apparently it can get worse as one gets older! :blushing:

So let those comments roll off and know you are doing what you can!

Hang in there and do your best cuz your best is all you can do! I know it is not easy but continue with a good mindset!

georgiaTRIs

genetics of a pear shap won't change. As you lose weight you will get smaller all over. Unfortunately the legs can be toned through weights and biking/running they will never be those legs thin shapely legs you see in pictures. You are you and through diet and exercise you will become a better you. be proud of yourself and tone your body to be the best it can be.

yirara

Thanks to being sick I lost a lot of weight lately. My rather flat stomach got even flatter and that whole pelvis area a lot narrower than it used to be. I don't know why some people made jokes of my wide pelvis bones. Sure, it's still wide-ish, but what I'm seeing now is that my shoulders are clearly wider than my pelvis. That's new to me! My legs haven't changed at all though. Oh well... you can't have it all. Besides, many of the greatest paintings and statues of of history show beautiful women with wide lower body and curves where they should be. Example? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_body_shape#mediaviewer/File:Detail_from_The_Birth_of_Venus_by_William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1879).jpg

nomorebingesgirl2014

Fellow pear